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“Zimbabwe Today” by Robb WJ Ellis (30-11-2010)

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2010-11-30 Time: 08:00:02  Posted By: The BeardedMan

Howzit

We had more snowfall overnight and snow remains on the ground in Derby and the temperature is around freezing – which, for me, makes life rather interesting. I cannot afford to take a fall and possibly damage my arm again, but, by the same token, life carries on and I cannot spend the few days before it all melts sat inside.

So with a sensible pair of boots on, I continue doing what I would normally do. I just have to be careful as I do it.

That being said, I braved the elements and went into town this morning for a few minutes… and trust me, the weather was not very kind!

Tonight, on SW Radio Africa, I chat to Duane Udd on his programme ‘Different Points of View‘ about ‘Mugabe’s Inexactitudes‘ – Duane told me that the show should air at about 1845hrs UK time…

-o00o-

The world is busy taking in the various extracts from the numerous diplomatic comments released on WikiLeaks – and Zimbabwe does not walk away unscathed.

Mugabe is called a ‘crazy old man’ whilst Tsvangirai is described as a ‘flawed character’.

I don’t think that the remarks made about the President or Prime Minister in Zimbabwe will draw any comment as they perhaps are not as offensive as some of the leaks that have disclosed some serious misgivings in the diplomatic world.

If anything, the some of the comments are far from diplomatic.

The former US ambassador to Zimbabwe thought then opposition leader, now Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai was a “flawed figure”, according to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.

Christopher Dell said Mr Tsvangirai was a brave man, largely a democrat but not open to advice and indecisive.

Mr Dell described President Robert Mugabe as ruthless but a “brilliant tactician”.

As he left in 2007, he predicted: “The end is nigh” for the Mugabe regime.

He did, however, admit that similar predictions had previously been made by several of his predecessors and other observers.“

I don’t believe that Dell was very far off the truth. The end was nigh, but through some devious work on the ground in Zimbabwe, Mugabe was permitted to hang on by the very skin of his teeth. And now we have someone that is more determined than ever to remain in office until the day he falls off his mortal coil.

The US, like other Western powers have imposed targeted sanctions on Mr Mugabe and scores of his allies, accusing him of rigging elections and other human rights abuses.

But Mr Dell, who was once told by Mr Mugabe he could “go to hell”, said Mr Tsvangirai had “questionable judgement in selecting those around him”, according to a leak reported in the New York Times.

“He is the indispensable element for opposition success, but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power. In short, he is a kind of Lech Walesa character: Zimbabwe needs him, but should not rely on his executive abilities to lead the country’s recovery,” he wrote as his posting to Harare ended.“

In the end, this is just someone’s opinion of another. I don’t believe any damage has been done.

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You will hopefully remember the article just yesterday which told us how the Zimbabwean police chief turned a parade into a ZANU PF rally.

The MDC are not amused with this and have called for his resignation – not that they will get it…

Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has come under fire over his weekend remarks that ‘puppets without war credentials will not rule Zimbabwe’.

The MDC-T has called for his immediate resignation saying his views were likely to cause violence and intimidation in the next elections.

Chihuri told recruit officer last week that he wanted to mould patriotic officers who understood the country’s liberation struggle. Yesterday the MDC-T said Chihuri should just leave the police force to concentrate on ZANU OF politics full time.“

Any request by the MDC will be studiously ignored.

But why, thirty years after the end of the Rhodesian bush war should recruits have the chimurenga drummed into them? Surely the idea of hostilities should be the last thing on the minds of future police officers whose mandate should be to ‘serve and protect’?

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The complaint that the equipment has been stored for three years is not an MDC problem. Given that the inclusive government is due to cease to exist in February next year after its two year tenure, that would mean that the equipment was stored whilst ZANU PF ‘ruled’…

They should really be a little more careful who they point fingers at.

ZANU PF has accused Finance minister and MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti of stalling distribution of farming implements meant for Matabeleland South, North and Bulawayo provinces under government's farm mechanisation programme.

The farming implements, part of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Mechanisation Programme, have been lying idle at the National Railways of Zimbabwe courtyard for the past three years.

The fallout follows Biti's refusal to allow the agricultural implements to be distributed exclusively to ZANU PF supporters instead of farmers in the three Matabeleland provinces, regardless of their political affiliation.“

Why should the equipment go to ZANU PF sympathisers only? Those that were lucky enough to receive land in the chaotic landgrab haven’t bothered to work the land – although they may say that they haven’t worked the land because of lack of equipment… Surely the farmers – real farmers – not just ZANU PF beneficiaries – should be given the equipment in an attempt to kick-start the agricultural sector again?

Addressing party supporters at the ZANU PF Matabeleland North inter-district conference, ZANU PF national chairperson Simon Khaya-Moyo accused Biti of trying to gain votes for MDC-T through the agriculture implements scheme, introduced before the coalition government was formed.

“There are implements in Bulawayo that have been lying idle for the past three years. We discussed the issue with members and I called a meeting in Bulawayo, where the three provinces met to find out the reasons behind the delay,” said Moyo.“

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You don’t have to check on WikiLeaks for confirmation of this story. Surely the facts are plain for anyone to see – and apply just as much to Jacob Zuma as they do to Mbeki?

” v(92)\:* (123){behavior:url(#default#VML);(125)} o(92)\:* (123){behavior:url(#default#VML);(125)} w(92)\:* (123){behavior:url(#default#VML);(125)} .shape (123){behavior:url(#default#VML);(125)} Normal 0 false false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable (123){mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;(125)} Former president Thabo Mbeki had a bias for ZANU PF during his time as mediator between Zimbabwe’s ruling party and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), United States embassy documents have revealed.

During the past weekend whistleblower website WikiLeaks released 250000 documents, consisting of US diplomatic and intelligence reports, to five international newspapers, sending shockwaves through the international diplomatic community.

Included in these documents is a report by US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell in 2007, marked “confidential”, which sheds light on the US strategy in Zimbabwe, as well as Mbeki’s role.

It shows, for the first time, that Mbeki may not have been a neutral broker during the negotiations process, which he was mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take charge of.

“Mbeki has always favored [sic] stability and in his mind this means a ZANU PF led GNU [government of national unity], with perhaps a few MDC additions. This solution is more likely to prolong than resolve the crisis and we must guard against letting Pretoria dictate an outcome which perpetuates the status quo at the expense of real change and reform,” Dell wrote in his report.“

Once again, this is just an opinion, but, in this respect, it just goes to confirm what we, as observers of all things Zimbabweans, have suspected for quite some time.

Mbeki will claim that he is the unbiased broker of the GNU, but we have seen how Mugabe has ignored the provisions of the agreement – and neither Mbeki nor Zuma seem to understand the urgency of the situation.

Dell’s report was written shortly after then-US president George Bush declared Mbeki as his “point man in Africa”.

Behind the scenes, MDC activists claimed that during the negotiations process Mbeki had favoured president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF, but this is the first time the issue is stated in official documents.“

What will come of this? Well, Dell may come under the cosh and be warned to limit his personal opinion to the absolute minimum.

As for Mbeki or Zuma, nothing whatsoever will happen – as there is little anyone can do anyway…

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The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has challenged Zimbabwe to take advantage of its membership and stop moaning about sanctions imposed by the West.

President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF argue that Western sanctions were the largest contributor to the country’s economic collapse.

Keith Rockwell, the WTO director for information and external relations told a workshop jointly hosted by the body and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation that despite the restrictions, Zimbabwe can still sell its goods and services to any country.“

The article uses the word “mourning” instread of “moaning” – probably the result of using a spellchecker – but it does show the idea behind the restrictive measures on specific people in Zimbabwe is constantly used as an excuse for most of ZANU PF’s shortcomings in the country.

Zimbabwe has access to the dispute settlement system which means it can defend its rights through our binding system of dispute resolution.

Mugabe chooses not to utilise the system, as he is aware that his claims will be refuted in any investigation – and he has no want to be proved wrong to the watching world.

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Take care.

‘debvhu

Source: http://thebeardedman.blogspot.com/2010/11/tuesday-30th-november-2010.html